Review: 'Shakespeare on the Green' by Pomperaug Theatre Company

The course of true humor never did run smooth.” - Paul E. Doniger in his director’s comments a.k.a. The Shakespeare misquote-o-thon

Southbury, CT - ‘Shakespeare on the Green’ opened at Pomperaug Regional High School (Region 15) in Southbury. The “Fun, Frantic and Slightly Fractured Introductions to Shakespeare Plays” is by Amanda Petefish-Schrag and Ben Schrag. The production of the clever play runs through November 19 in the school’s black box theater.

The play frantically runs through five of Shakespeare’s classics, ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ ‘King Lear,’ ‘The Comedy of Errors,’ ‘Merry Wives of Windsor,’ and finally ‘The Winter’s Tale.’ The plays are revamped into relatively short pieces, in an effort to make them both fun and accessible to teens. There is lots of comedic narration and modern language to update these classics written by the Bard and the multiple roles that the students play keep them on their toes. Even ‘Lear’ is made lighter with a long lesson in Shakespearean tragedy (and how to avoid it) and a running total is kept of the miscommunications in ‘Comedy of Errors.’ Flexibility has been built into the script and director Doniger did his best to make sure that the students provide a fun night celebrating the playwright, along with some twists.

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The play will appeal to young students unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s plays and is enjoyable to those of us that are more familiar with the works of the Bard. Tickets for this intimate venue are limited, so the school runs the show for two weekends. November 18 and 19 will be at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 20 at 2:30pm. $5 for students, seniors, and Region 15 staff, $10 adults

Photo by Pomperaug Theatre Company